A last ditch appeal by the government to allay the unions’ concerns and prevent the strike earlier this week failed.
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He was of the view that the demand is reasonable in the backdrop of price rise.
More than 20 protesters were arrested after they damaged two government buses in West Bengal, senior police official Anuj Sharma told the AFP news agency.
Other sectors that will join the strike include banks, government offices, telecom, and factories to name a few.
He claimed the workers have appreciated the steps, including a 42 per cent hike in the minimum wages, taken by the government in their interests.
But fear of a union-led backlash has made the Indian leader leave the responsibility for unshackling the labor market with states.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya blamed the previous UPA rule for the issues faced by the workers and said the present government “doesn’t want a confrontation with labour unions” and rather needs their cooperation and support. The members of employees’ unions were also seen standing outside the gate and shouting slogans against the government’s indifference and anti-labour policies.
CITU General Secretary said, “We demanded that you decide a benchmark below which no state government can go in fixing the minimum wages and that limit is Rs. 18000”. This is because workers of Coal India limited are participating in the strike.
According to trade union sources, banking and insurance sector will be affected the most besides public sector undertakings (PSUs). They also stopped people from entering offices.
With state-run and private transport employees and workers joining the strike, bus services in Bangaluru and other cities across the state will be affected for 12 hours from 6 a.m to 6 p.m.
Thakur has claimed that all the workers’ representatives at the meeting of the board had, in fact, reiterated the demand for Rs 18,000 monthly minimum wage (Rs 692 per day), which is one of the key sticking points in the dispute and the cause for widespread support for the strike. “Then, with transport getting hit, the shipment for exports also gets hit”.
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India’s power minister Piyush Goyal said the strike would not have any impact on coal supplies as there is “no shortage of coal anywhere in the country”. The government’s offer of Rs 9,100, Rs 11,362 and Rs 13,598 respectively for the workers of central sphere in “C”, “S” and “A” category areas respectively is not even half of what all the central trade unions, including BMS unitedly demanded and have been pursuing since last five years.
